Home Remedies For Constipation

Home Remedies for Constipation in infants, kids, and adults

Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal problem in children and adults basically due to unhealthy diet and lifestyle. Taking over-the-counter (OTC)laxatives for this condition often results in the person becoming dependent on these. The best way to deal with constipation is through natural home remedies using easily available ingredients from your kitchen.

Constipation is a condition of difficulty with irregular bowel movements or passing hard and dry stools. The major reason of the constipation is due to dehydration and low fiber diet. Constipation is more common in children, pregnant women and aged people. The symptoms associated with the constipation are feeling bloated or uncomfortable. Generally constipation is not a serious problem, understanding the right cause of constipation will help in preventing it.

Cuses of Constipation

Low fluid intake and low fiber diet

Lack of exercise

Pregnancy

Hemorrhoids

Anxiety

Weak bowel muscles

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Staying on certain medications

Excessive intake of iron or calcium

Home Remedies For Constipation in children

It is very easy to identify constipation in children. Their bowel movements will be reduced to as low as 3 bowel movements per week and pass hard stools with straining, painful, or withholding defecation. Some children even complain of having pain in the abdomen and pain while passing stools with or without blood in the stool.

Seek a medical care if the constipation becomes severe and if your child is below 4 months of age. Mild to moderate constipation can be easily rectified through home remedies listed below.

Fruit juices of prune, apple, or pear help in softening the stools. Do not try to give the prune juice to infants, as this serves as irritant.

Give 2 to 4 ounces of the other juices once in a day. Give 4 to 6 ounces once a day for older infants. Do not water down apple juice or pear. Prune juice can be watered down in the ration of 1:1. Juice, except that of prune, is not helpful for children above 3 years of age, as their intestines are more efficient and absorbs most of the sugars in the juice.

Foods those are high in fiber such as whole grains, sweet potatoes, apricots, pears, peaches, prunes, plums, beans, broccoli, peas, and spinach help in easing the passage of stools.

Please avoid applesauce and carrot, as they can be constipating.

Dairy products may make constipation in toddlers. Try avoiding cow milk, goat milk, or buffalo milk if the child in on it. If your baby is formula fed, try adding intermittent water sips between the feeds or replace one feed with water for a week or so. Stools get harder when the water content in feeds get lesser.

Adequate fluids are highly required to treat constipation. Always make sure that children are hydrated.

Train your children to Toilet regularly and habituate them to have a regular toilet routine. For children little older, ask them to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes once a day, within 30 minutes after a breakfast, meal, or dinner.

Avoid any baby foods that with rice cereal, these tend to constipate more. Formulas with iron are said to be good for easing constipation.

Home Remedies for Constipation in Adults

Prevention is always better than cure and this applies strongly to constipation in adults. Find below some of the home remedies that you can try.

Include more fiber in your diet on a regular basis.

Drink half a glass of spinach juice that is mixed with half a glass of water two times a day for 2 to 3 days and see the difference.

Drink at least three liters of water every day to keep hydrated
Cut down on tea, coffee, alcohol, as they can worsen constipation.

Take oranges every day that are rich in vitamin C and fiber.

Add flax seeds to warm water and drink it in the early morning or add them in your breakfast cereals every morning.

Grind equal quantity of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds and take one tbs of this mixture once in a day for one week.

Soak handful of dates in milk and then make it a paste. Consume this with milk for a week.

Triphala Churna taken along with honey two times a day is a great remedy for constipation that is prescribed by Ayurveda experts.

Take a teaspoon of ghee mixed in a glass of warm milk before going to sleep is said to be an age old traditional Indian remedy for constipation.

Boil a handful of figs in a glass of warm milk and consume this mixture at night before going to sleep. Figs have relatively high fiber content and provide a very quick relief from constipation.

Consume half a cup of cabbage Juice two times daily.

Doing physical exercise regularly is a must for regular bowel movements. Pranayama and yoga are also proved to be beneficial.

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